Oct
11
What’s new in social media that is exciting the folks who make their living in this rapidly changing sector? I had the chance to pose that question to presenters at last week’s social media camp workshop in Victoria. Here are their responses: Jason Miles, author of Pinterest Power: “Instagram. It’s different and exciting. I want …
Oct
10
With a vision to build their public health service as a central resource for parents, implementing a social media strategy seemed like a logical next step for the Halton Region regional government in 2010. It wasn’t an easy step, however. The Ontario region encompasses the cities of Burlington, Milton, Halton Hills, and Oakville in Ontario. …
Oct
03
One Sunday last year I got up at 7:00 a.m. and trotted up to the University of Victoria to run around the campus for 75 minutes. Why? It was my contribution to the 24-Hour Relay, a fundraising event for the Easter Seal Society. My husband’s dragonboat team had decided to participate in this event for …
Jul
09
It was a classic public relations challenge: engage every employee at a public utility in an occupational health and safety campaign – overcoming workforce challenges that included multiple audiences with limited access to computers, an under-staffed IT team, and a jaded attitude toward yet another safety message. Oh – and prepare the campaign to launch …
Jun
21
The recent Social Media Camp and Currents 2012 conferences in Victoria each featured workshops on producing videos. Speakers Cody Graham and Dianne Williams delivered the workshop at Currents – the national conference of the Canadian Public Relations Society – while Jaeny Baik spoke on the topic at Social Media Camp. Previous posts outlined why video is …
Jun
19
Former journalist Jaeny Baik once heard a presentation from an accountant who was entertaining and interesting and even inspiring. Baik was so impressed that when she learned the woman had a video, she was quick to check it out. The unsmiling, stilted person on screen was a stranger, however, and Baik quickly lost interest. “Something …
Jun
18
Victoria filmmaker Cody Graham produced a video for Canadian cyclist Ryder Hesjedal’s Wheelmen Ride Bikes movement. It’s one minute of inspiration and emotion – and it took all of a day to create. The founder of Media One Multimedia Inc. mostly used footage from YouTube – plus some footage he shot off a big screen …
Jun
10
When Wayne Parrish was a sports reporter 20 years ago, he used to write six articles a week. One of his modern counterparts – National Post sports columnist Bruce Arthur – writes four columns a week, co-hosts a weekly radio program on TSN and appears regularly as a commentator on TSN’s television program The Reporters. …
Sep
14
When Shakespeare’s Juliet says: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” she is telling Romeo – he of the rival Montague clan – that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention. That may be so when it comes to love (if we ignore …
Jun
29
Whenever I visit my father on beautiful Denman Island I avidly read the local newsletters. They are sources not only of information but local colour as well. In issue #982 of the Grapevine, for example, I got a chuckle from a classified ad for a lovely antique piano that needs repairs and tuning. “Bought as …
